Saudi Arabia has just granted citizenship to the first robot – and she is a woman named Sophia. This is a serious moment for the intersection of humanity and artificial intelligence. In her debut appearance, Sophia was not wearing a head scarf, and was not accompanied by a male guardian, as required of all human Saudi women. In fact, last month in an historic election Saudi women got the right to drive for the first time ever, but there are still many things they cannot do. Why this prejudice against human women in favor or an artificial one?
At a recent Women's Apologetics conference sponsored by the C. S. Lewis Institute, Amy Orr-Ewing of the OCCA Oxford, discussed "Is Christianity Bad News for Women?" There she pointed out that women's rights have from their inception been profoundly religious. Christianity has not always protected women, but liberty for women began when revolutionized by Jesus Christ. A Christian Perspective on Gender Equality, 15 Duke J. Gender L. & Pol'y 339 (2008) reveals this truth, and details how Christianity has had a profound effect on American law in favor of women toward gender fairness.
If this is true, why are women still suffering from various forms of gender discrimination, sexual violence, and other forms of gender contempt, while a woman of artificial intelligence apparently has more rights than human women? For a most interesting interdisciplinary perspective see Lynne Marie Kohm, Diane J. Chandler, and Doris Gomez, Christianity, Feminism, and the Paradox of Female Happiness, 17 Trinity L. Rev. 191 (2011). Gender equality flows from a society that honors and values women, as created and living in the image of God.
Family restoration must be based on value of women and men alike – in all nations – as human beings created not artificially, but transcendently in the image of God Himself.
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